WASHINGTON-Five national mobile-phone carriers want California state regulators to adopt a plan to resolve the critical shortage of telephone numbers in the state’s 909 area code.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C, Nextel Communications Inc., T-Mobile USA, Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless told the California Public Utility Commission the move is necessary to guarantee that California consumers and businesses have their choice of telecommunications services and service providers.
The carriers said the region covered by the 909 area code includes most of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, is one of the fastest-growing areas in California and faces a severe phone number shortage, according to recent studies. They said the PUC administrative law judge reviewing the situation, the Federal Communications Commission and the North American Number Plan Administration all have urged immediate action, each determining that the remaining available phone numbers in the 909 area code will fail to meet demand in the coming months.
Recent data from the pooling administrator confirms that conclusion, the carriers claimed. As of Oct. 24, in the 909 area code, there are eight local calling areas, or rate centers, with no available numbers or assignment, and an additional 11 rate centers with fewer than 10,000 numbers available, far fewer than projections indicate will be needed for consumers and businesses.
The mobile-phone operators said they believe now is the time to act before the situation becomes even more critical. There are no more measures to significantly extend the life of 909, including the implementation of number portability, according to the wireless firms. Number portability will not provide additional numbers in those areas that are exhausted, they contend.
The five carriers warn that potential consequences of exhausting the supply of telephone numbers available to consumers and businesses are substantial. They include consumers being denied their choice of service providers and/or the ability to obtain new service of any sort, competition being stifled, existing carriers without numbers to offer consumers in the 909 area being forced to close their doors to new customers, and carriers and vendors seeing revenues decrease, resulting in reduced tax revenues.
